UFC's bonus system changed fight veteran Joe Lauzon's life

(This story first appeared in Thursday’s USA TODAY.)

Veteran UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon stood to make $3,000 to show and another $3,000 as a win bonus when he showed up for a UFC 63 fight with Jens Pulver eight years ago in Anaheim, Calif.

He knew that fighting in the UFC was a great opportunity to make a living as an MMA fighter, but the UFC newcomer had little idea of the potential upside when he stepped in the octagon – until someone handed him a check for $15,000.

“I’m getting what? What are you handing me?” he remembers of his immediate reaction.

Lauzon had won his first UFC bonus for knocking out Pulver, but it would hardly be his last. Over the next six years, he would win 11 more, pocketing a total of $585,000 above his contracted pay.

In 75 percent of his fights, Lauzon (23-9 MMA, 10-6 UFC), a former IT professional, has earned a bonus. He’s tied with former longtime champ Anderson Silva for the most awards in UFC history, and he’ll go for another one when he meets “The Ultimate Fighter 15? reality-show winner Michael Chiesa (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) on Saturday at “UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs. Mousasi” at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. (Fox Sports 1, 7 p.m. ET).

“I never thought, ‘I have to win this bonus,'” Lauzon tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s just that the way I like to fight and perform, it just lends itself to winning bonuses.”

The UFC is unique in how it incentivizes its athletes to put on better performances. With no traditional seasons in which to set benchmarks for pay, the promotion puts extra money up for grabs each and every event, and fighters such as Lauzon, who wow the crowd with finishes and exciting bouts, stand to benefit the most.

“It’s made him more comfortable, where he hasn’t had to worry so much about the income from his gym, or from another job,” says Chris Palmquist, Lauzon’s training partner and friend. “Starting out without bonuses, you don’t make enough to support yourself. It’s allowed him to focus on his fight career.”

Lightweight James Krause, who started on MMA’s smaller circuits (where paydays can be as little as a couple hundred dollars), had never received anything beyond his agreed pay when he signed on to fight on short notice at UFC 161 in 2013. He submitted Sam Stout in the waning seconds of a three-round thriller, and because he was the only person on the card to tap out his opponent, he picked up $50,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night” and “Submission of the Night.”

“It was, and is, the best moment of my life,” Krause says. “It changed everything for me. All the ups and downs finally paid off. I reinvested it and bought the MMA gym I was training in and allowed me to make more money back.”

As Lauzon found out, the money wasn’t just a source of stability. It helped him save his son’s life.

Shortly after Joey Lauzon came into the world in January, he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a common pediatric cancer. His father saw the bill for his first day in the hospital. It was $140,000.

“It definitely helped having extra money to deal with this,” Joe Lauzon says. “With hospital bills and health insurance, it’s been really tough, and we’ve spent way too much money on all that. But I would trade it all to have Joey healthy and happy. All the bonuses definitely helped.”

Lauzon will give back to the community two weeks after his fight, on Sept. 21, when he joins the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund walk, a charity that helps raise money for cancer research and patient care at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He said he’s already raised $50,000 in donations.

While he admits he’s not as in good financial shape as he used to be after his son’s illness, he still has time to win more bonuses – and hopefully, inch ahead of former champ Silva on the all-time list.

“I think I’m the safer bet in the long run,” Lauzon says.

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